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[OP-ED] Trump’s Circus is Full of Creepy Clowns

If you don’t know who Stephen MiIler is, you are lucky. I mean, why would anybody want to meet a vile bigot, another weird little man who, like attorney general Jeff Sessions, is big only in hate and racism?

If you don’t know who Stephen MiIler is, you are lucky. I mean, why would anybody want to meet a vile bigot, another weird little man who, like attorney general Jeff Sessions, is big only in hate and racism?

This is the guy – he is a White House aide -- that on Wednesday had a heated argument with CNN reporter Jim Acosta, the son of Cuban immigrants, during a nationally televised news briefing over the meaning of the world-famous Emma Lazarus poem – “give me your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”— engraved on the base of the Statue of Liberty. The words of Lazarus –who like Miller was Jewish— have traditionally meant hope and freedom to oppressed and poor people around the world.

Miller, a senior policy advisor to Donald Trump, denied that the poem’s welcoming message had been the statue’s original intent. Acosta would not have any of it: “That sounds like some national park revisionism,” he said. “The Statue of Liberty has always been a beacon of hope to the world for people to send their people to this country and they're not always going to speak English. They're not always going to be highly skilled.”

Acosta was referring to an announcement by Trump supporting legislation designed to reduce legal immigration in half by curtailing U.S. citizens and green card holder’s opportunity to petition for family members to join them in this country.

“This competitive application process will favor applicants who can speak English, financially support themselves and their families and demonstrate skills that will contribute to our economy,” Trump said. Yet as someone posted on Facebook, “If English-speaking is the measure of worthiness, Trump has to go to the back of the line.”

As reported by NPR’s John Burnett, if the bill passes, which seems improbable, it would do three things: “First, limit the number of foreign nationals who are able to get green cards to reunite with their families already in the U.S. — currently the largest category of legal immigrants; second, cut the number of refugees in half; third, eliminate the diversity visa lottery — a program that gives visas to countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.”

“Among all the President's actions and proposals that have eroded our nation's heart, soul and commitment to civil and human rights, few others are as evil as this,” said Steven Goldstein, executive director of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect. “This heinous action would, in effect, establish an ethnic purity test that harkens to the darkest chapters of world history. The Statue of Liberty weeps as she watches President Trump all but flush America's moral leadership down the toilet.”

Miller’s disrespect of such a symbol of hope was not a surprise for those who know him. The 31-year-old–who used to work for Sessions-- is one of Donald Trump’s most trusted political advisors despite having no real political experience. Then again, why would he need experience to become the president’s speechwriter or his mouthpiece on immigration? Being an unabashed racist is more than enough qualification to serve in an administration that thrives on persecuting and terrorizing immigrants, women and people of color.

I wonder what those who have tried to justify Trump’s despicable immigration policy by insisting it was directed only to “illegal” immigration, are going to say now that the White House bigot has declared war on legal immigration.